SECONDS FROM IGNITION

Julian lunged forward, his hands hovering frantically over his daughter’s shoulders, terrified to touch the vest. "Mia... baby, don't move. Do exactly as I say."

Mia’s lower lip quivered. She was freezing, her bare feet caked in mud. "A man with a scar put it on me. He said if I run away from the school, it makes a loud noise."

Nora crawled closer, pulling her phone out and shielding the flashlight with her fingers. She illuminated the vest. It was a crude, devastatingly effective proximity bomb. The red light blinked steadily.

"It's tied to a localized radio frequency," Nora whispered, tracing the wires with her eyes. "If she gets too far from a transmitter—probably the one Silas's men brought in those SUVs—it detonates."

"Can you disarm it?" Julian asked, his voice cracking. The ruthless mob boss was completely gone, replaced by a desperate, terrified father.

Nora swallowed hard. She knew cars. She knew basic wiring. But this was military grade. "If I cut the wrong wire, it triggers the fail-safe. But look at this." She pointed to a thick, steel padlock securing the vest straps at Mia’s back. "It’s not just wired; it’s locked onto her."

"I’ll rip it off her," Julian growled, grabbing the straps.

"No!" Nora slapped his hand away. "There are pressure sensors under the canvas. Julian, if we move her out of this forest, she dies. If we stay here, Silas's men find us."

"We can't just wait to be found," Julian said, his eyes wild.

"We don't wait," Nora said, her mind crystallizing with a dangerous plan. "The detonator Marcus had... you said he dropped it at the restaurant?"

"Yes."

"If Marcus works for Silas, they use the same tech supplier. We don't disarm the bomb on her. We hijack the signal." Nora looked into Julian’s eyes. "I need you to go back up there. Find the commander of those men. He’ll have a master remote to control this vest. Bring it to me."

Julian looked at Mia, brushing a wet curl from her forehead. "I'm not leaving her."

"I have Leo's medal," Nora said fiercely, pulling the little girl into her arms. Mia buried her face in Nora’s wet jacket. "I will protect her, Julian. But if you don't get that remote, none of us are walking out of these woods."

Julian stared at Nora for a long, heavy second. He saw the fire in her eyes—the same fire Leo had. He nodded once, gripping his gun. "Three minutes. Keep her warm."

He vanished into the rain.

Nora wrapped her jacket around Mia, rocking her gently. "It’s okay, sweetie. You're so brave. Just like Leo told me you were."

"Uncle Leo said he was going to fix my bike," Mia whispered into the dark. "But he never came back."

Nora choked back a sob. "He wanted to, Mia. He loved you very much."

Gunfire erupted above them. The staccato crack of automatic weapons echoed through the trees. Nora covered Mia’s ears, pulling her deeper into the hollow.

Suddenly, a heavy body crashed down the ravine, sliding in the mud and stopping a few feet from them. It was a man in tactical gear. He was dead.

Nora froze. A tall, imposing figure slowly descended the muddy slope, a flashlight in one hand and a suppressed pistol in the other.

It wasn't Julian.

The man stepped into the light. He was in his late sixties, impeccably dressed in a bespoke suit despite the weather. He had a silver cane, and a face that looked like an older, crueler version of Julian.

Silas Thorne.

"Hello, Mia," Silas said smoothly, his voice devoid of any grandfatherly warmth. He looked at Nora, his lip curling in disgust. "And you must be the help. Step away from the merchandise."

Nora’s grip on Mia tightened. "You're a monster. She's your own blood."

"Blood is a commodity, my dear," Silas chuckled, raising his pistol and aiming it directly at Nora’s head. "Now, be a good girl and hand her over, or I'll put a bullet in your brain and take her anyway."

Nora squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the shot.

Instead, she heard the distinct, metallic click of a gun hammer being pulled back.